Overview
- Dashcam and witness videos show a marked Arkansas State Police vehicle running over one gosling and then backing up and killing a second while managing a family of Canada geese on Highway 57.
- The footage and witnesses say this unfolded Sunday morning as traffic had slowed, while ASP says the trooper was dispatched around 9:30 a.m. and spent about 26 minutes trying to coax the birds off the roadway to avoid a crash.
- ASP Director Mike Hagar publicly defended the trooper and referenced a 2017 fatal I-40 crash and a brief call with Arkansas Game & Fish in which the official said he could not leave Maumelle to respond in person.
- A formal FOIA request for dashcam and bodycam video, dispatch audio, CAD logs and related communications has been filed and acknowledged by Arkansas State Police and will be key to reconciling competing accounts.
- Canada geese are covered by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which generally bans unauthorized killing of migratory birds and means the records will determine whether federal law or internal discipline applies.